The Joy of Family
by CaraLee934
Summary: For Wryter501 and her wonderful Kingdom Games 'verse. Balinor, Hunith and Ygraine and their grandchildren. "Would you ever have thought, that we should be so blessed?"
1. One Snowy Day

_**I do not own Merlin (Oh how I wish!) Anyone you recognize from the legends… aren't they public domain by now? Details on the kids after the credits!**_

_**Anyhoo…This is for Wryter501, prompted by some comments (prompted by medieval living situations) we exchanged on how nice it would be for Hunith and Balinor to just sit down and watch their grand-kids run around. It is set in a sort of AU of her Kingdom Games AU, as it has been written thus far. Which is to say, Chapter 18. Will contain spoilers up to that point, and some of my guesses as to the final result! It also has people I randomly added in for the heck of it.**_

_**Go read Wryter's stories. They are fantastic.**_

* * *

"Boys! No running indoors please. Take it outside."

Hunith smiled as Ygraine's gentle scolding rang through the small house. It seemed their grandchildren…

Actually, make that their _children_, she amended as Merlin and Arthur shuffled sheepishly past her towards the door.

Some days it seemed only yesterday that her son had volunteered for certain death, others it was more like a lifetime ago. Now, ten years and three, nightmarish Games from that horrible day, Arthur, the man that Merlin had sworn himself to, was high king of all Albion and her own, sweet little boy…

"Nain?"

Hunith glanced down. It was Amhar, one of Arthur and Gwen's eldest, six years old, his bright blue eyes peering seriously at her from the little face only a shade lighter than his mother's.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Gran said to ask you if I could have this."

_This_ proved to be one of the sweetbread rolls that Hunith had spent the morning baking. She smiled down at her as-good-as-grandchild, Crown Prince of Camelot.

"What about waiting until after dinner. Then everyone can have one for dessert."

Amhar considered this for a moment before nodding, albeit reluctantly. "Yes ma'am." He gravely handed her the roll.

"Mar! Come on! If we don't hurry, then Anna says she'll dump snow in our shoes."

Amhar made a face at the mention of his twin sister. "I'm coming Will." He scooted around Hunith and headed for the door, following the vanishing heels of her eldest blood grandchild.

Amhar and little Will were so much like their fathers. Not so much in personality (though Will had definitely inherited Merlin's mischievous streak.) as the way they interacted with each other. Amhar had been almost a year old when Will was born, and while Anna had shown a distinct lack of interest in her new little "cousin," Amhar had been fascinated. The toddler had spent hours playing with or just observing the dark-haired baby. It had been the proudest day of his life when his Uncle Merlin sat him down on the bed and let him hold Will in his lap.

The two had been inseparable ever since. Will's third word (After "Mam", "shiny" and right before "Da") had been "Mar." Something that he had called the young prince ever since.

The sudden barrage of squeals from outside shook Hunith out of her musings and she peered out the door to see what all the excitement was about.

It appeared that the boys had not gone out soon enough to satisfy Anna, and she and her allies, four year old Teleri and five year old Breaca, (Tristan and Isolde's daughter) had proceeded to shove considerable amounts of snow down the shirts of their brothers and "cousins", succeeding in all except three cases, Rory and Aidan, (Gareth and Gaheris' sons) even at the tender age of three, seemed to have learned the value of a strategic retreat, their little red heads could be seen where they were hiding behind the woodpile. The other to escape the girls was Amhar, and that was only because Will had shoved him aside with a quick burst of the magic that came nearly as instinctively to him as it did to his father, for his pains, the younger boy received the pelting that had been intended for the young prince and Hunith felt a brief ache in her heart that disappeared as Amhar swiftly regrouped, rallied his "knights" and led the charge to "rescue his Dragonlord from the evil princess and her minions". Will was very indignant at being rescued, but was soon distracted by the snowballs that Rory handed off to him.

Before long the tables had been turned and the girls were running, shrieking and laughing as the boys (who outnumbered them considerably) pursued them, only stopping to reload their stockpile of snowballs.

Hunith became aware of a familiar presence behind her as strong arms snuck around her waist and a bearded chin rested on her head. Somehow, limp or no limp, Balinor managed to be as silent as a cat when he so wished.

"Would you have ever thought," Ygraine said quietly from beside them as they watched the battle lines shift once more as the boys fought to defend the "fair ladies" from the "evil king and warlock". "That we should ever be so blessed?"

Hunith felt Balinor vibrate with silent laughter as Merlin tripped over his own feet and was swarmed by children and Arthur threw up his hands in despair. She knew that if she were to look she would see Gwen and Freya inside by the fire, discussing names for the baby that would be joining Merlin and Freya's family any day now, and bring the number of her blood grandchildren up to four. In the distance she could see the training fields where Sir Leon was running the Knights of Camelot through drills, and behind them, the white walls of the castle itself, with bright banners of red and gold flying from the ramparts.

"No," she said. "I had not."

* * *

**A/N: **

**As you can see, Balinor is alive. I wanted him to get to see his grand kids too. **

**So the kids…**

**I didn't even put all of them, I'm sorry. Anyway,**

**Arthur and Gwen have four children, Anna and Amhar are twins, age 6, Llacheu is 4, and Gwydre is 3. They are all taken from the legends, so I don't exactly own them…**

**Merlin and Freya have three (another on the way) Will, age 5; Teleri, age 4; Cenn, age 2. (I think the origins of Will's name are obvious, and I found Teleri and Cenn's on a list of Welsh names by looking for names that had to do with water. Teleri is the name of a river, and Cenn means "clear water")**

**Breaca is 5, and the daughter of Tristan and Isolde. Her name is Cornish, based on possible origins for the Tristan of the legends.**

**Rory and Aidan are Gwaine's nephews, and are two adorable little red-headed cousins that look like twins. They are 3 at the time of the story.**

**I fell horrible. I left Leon's kids out of the story. He has two boys, ages 7 and 4. They were there, I just neglected to mention them.**

**Gwaine is married (I know, don't die of shock) but has no children. It's complicated. Go read "Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady". (Not a fic, one of the legends. You can probably find it online somewhere if you haven't read it before. The version I use as reference is a chapter in Rosemary Suttcliff's "Sword in the Circle".)**

**Oh yeah, "Nain", what Amhar calls Hunith, is Welsh for grandmother.**

**XxXxX**

**I may or may not write more little one-shots in this 'verse so you can meet everyone. It depends.**

**XxXxX**

**I hope you liked it!**

**Poor Bob (my pet dragon) is starving to death for the lack of reviews!**

**Save a dragon. Write a review.**


	2. Greatest of These

**If I owned Merlin, do you think I would be writing fanfiction?**

**I don't own the Kingdom Games AU either, that honor goes to the lovely Wryter501, who has given me leave to play in her sandbox.**

**The title for this chapter comes from 1 Corinthians 13. If you read that, it will probably explain a great deal about this chapter and my views on the matter.**

**This chapter, unlike the first, is cannon up to the point Kingdom Games has been published. (Translation, no Balinor. *We will now have a moment of silence*)**

**…**

**…**

**…**

**On with the show!**

* * *

Ygraine sits in her own rooms, listening to the rain on the roof of the castle.

Upon Uther's death and Arthur's coronation, Ygraine and Hunith had been moved from the old house she had dwelt in for some twenty-five years and into a beautiful suite of rooms for each of them in the citadel.

"My lady."

It is George, Arthur's manservant, assigned to replace Merlin upon the latter's elevation to the official position of Dragonlord. In reality, Merlin continued to care for Arthur's arms and armor and deliver his meals, leaving George as a sort of assistant manservant.

The poor man is standing stiffly by the doorway, hands behind his back, staring straight ahead at nothing. Not even almost ten years of being up close and personal with the extended "royal family" have served to loosen him up, though not for lack of trying on Gwaine's part.

"Yes George?"

"The Queen requests your presence in the parlor, my lady." He says, in that chipper yet bland tone he seems to have perfected to an art form. "If you are amenable."

Ygraine can't help the smile that comes as she set aside the spindle that has been laying untouched in her lap the past candle-mark.

"I will come gladly."

Rainy days in the parlor are always a great deal of fun.

XxXxXxX

When Ygraine enters the smallish room lit by a roaring fire, she is pleased to note that nearly everyone is there. The children are scattered throughout and the adults sit clustered near the fire chatting away or simply enjoying the company.

Merlin is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall beside the fireplace, grinning at something that Gwen has said. Arthur is also on the floor, his head on his wife's knee, eyes closed and looking very tired.

That isn't a surprise. Odin has been difficult lately and Arthur has been struggling to resolve it peacefully. Ygraine spares a moment to give thanks for Queen Annis, a constant ally for her son in such matters as in all else.

Freya is on the other side of the fireplace, deep in conversation with Lady Clarissa, baby Ceri asleep in her arms, with little Bran sat by her feet, amusing himself by making his toy horse move on its own. There was once a knight to ride upon it, but Ygraine suspects that her youngest grandson is behind the doll's disappearance.

Sir Leon sits beside them, one arm around his wife, most of his attention on an animated conversation he seems to be carrying on with Sir Gwaine and his brothers concerning the benefits of fighting with a shield vs wielding a sword two handed.

The other ladies are gathered around, cooing over the other two new babies, Finnean, Gaheris and Linnet's, and Saraid, Gareth and Lyonnesse's.

The unmarried knights, Sirs Percival and Elyan, are giving the children piggy-back rides. Currently Percival carries Prince Amhar, and Elyan bears Thomas, Sir Leon's eldest, as the two boys wield wooden swords wrapped in thick layers of material to cushion the blows they do land on each other. It is a tournament then.

It does not escape Ygraine's notice that the scrap of fabric tied on Thomas' upper arm bears a great resemblance to Anna's second favorite scarf.

"Lady Ygraine."

That is Ragnelle, Gwaine' new wife, her inhuman beauty made much warmer by her joyful smile as she catches Ygraine's attention, gesturing to the empty chair beside her, her sisters-in-law having departed for seats nearer the fire, most likely to keep the babies warm. Alice also has relocated, leaving Ragnelle and Hunith to their own devices.

With a nod, Ygraine acknowledges the gesture and seats herself beside the golden-haired Sidhe woman. The two of them sit in comfortable silence for a moment, simply watching the fire as Merlin plays with it, conjuring unicorns and dragons and human figures from the flames and sparks. Bran watches wide-eyed, his horse forgotten.

The squeals of the older children draw Ygraine's attention back to the mock tournament on the other side of the room.

Anna, mimicking her mother's quiet dignity, is crowning Thomas as champion of the joust. Elyan and Percival are leaning on each other trying to catch their breath, and Amhar is watching sulkily from the corner, ignoring Will as the younger boy pokes him repeatedly.

"Many of my people believe human-kind to be uncivilized." Ragnelle says in a low tone, her gaze resting wistfully on the children. "But I have not found it to be so."

Gwaine chooses that moment to loose a loud belch, causing his brothers to laugh uproariously, making comments in Gaelic, and Leon to roll his eyes, looking pained.

"But then again," Ragnelle says, her laughing eyes glancing fondly at her husband. "I could be mistaken."

There are surprised cries from the fireplace, as it seems that Bran has decided to attempt to mimic his father, resulting in the fire greatly increasing in size of a sudden. The next few minutes are spent patting the flames out of carpets and skirts and Gaius' robes, and Merlin being scolded by Freya (as much as that sweet girl can scold anyone, which isn't much) for not making sure that such a thing wouldn't happen. Hunith is laughing, and Gaius is shaking his head, but failing to hide the smile on his face.

"Merlin nearly burned the house down once," Hunith says, her eyes dancing. "I believe he was about…three summers, four?"

And the story-telling commences.

They begin with embarrassing childhood recollections, something that Ygraine is only too happy to contribute to. Even Gwaine shares one about his brothers, (half-brothers in truth, but no less the loved for that) enjoying the laughter as their faces turn a shade of red to match their infamous hair.

Then Merlin mentions one of the incidents that happened on a hunting trip, and the knights are off, attempting to out-brag each other. Sir Percival has just turned to Leon's wife Clarissa, his sister, to appeal for confirmation of one of his more outrageous claims when little Will pipes up.

"How did Da and Uncle Arthur meet?"

Instant silence falls.

"The Grandchildren", as Hunith and Ygraine have named them, have heard many stories of their parents and their friends. But none of the Games.

Will's face looks troubled, enough that Amhar notices and forgets his recent sulk in order to find out why.

"What's wrong?"

There is a moment of silence as Will picks at the carpet, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Is this about what_ That Boy_ said?" Anna demands, and Ygraine does not think that she has ever seen that level of fury in an eight year old.

"What boy?" Gwen asks, her tone low and soothing, attempting to coax some facts out of the children.

"That stupid Prince Meven from Brittany." Anna is only too eager to explain, her usually gentle brown eyes flashing with indignation. "He said all sorts of horrible things Mama. About Daddy, and Uncle Merlin and Uncle Gwaine and Uncle Tristan."

"He said," Will speaks so quietly that they almost miss it. "He said that Da begged for his life like a coward, and that he's just an uppity slave. And that Uncle Arthur didn't deserve to be High King."

Anna breaks in. "He said that Daddy was supposed to kill Uncle Merlin!" It is clear that the very concept is foreign to her, the idea that anyone could expect her father to harm a hair on his sorcerer's head. "And that Uncle Gwaine fought like an animal for the fun of it and Uncle Tristan was just a no-good smuggler and-"

"That's enough Anna." Merlin's voice is calm. "I believe we get the picture." He and Arthur exchange grim looks before Merlin crouches down to look his eldest son in the eye.

"What did he say that bothered you the most Will?"

The boy says something so quietly that Ygraine can hear but Arthur, standing behind Merlin obviously can, if the way his face reddens with suppressed fury is any indication. Gwen, sensing the impending explosion, tugs him down to sit on the settle beside her.

"Will." Merlin says, calm and quiet. "There is no shame in service."

His son looks up at him, confusion in his eyes.

"But Prince Meven said that only someone who's weak serves."

"Prince Meven is wrong." Merlin speaks with all the authority granted to him by his Dragonlord birthright. "The only weakness is in someone who is too proud to see the value in helping others and thinks that it is shameful to do so."

He pauses a moment, seemingly to collect his thoughts.

"Will. Why do you think that I do what I do?"

The boy blinks. Obviously he has never thought of anything like that before. His father has always tended to the king. Anything else is beyond the child's comprehension. He shrugs. "Because you have to?"

"No," his father replies. "Because I want to. I care for the king's armor and weapons so that I know they will be the best they can be and will not fail to keep him from harm. I take him his breakfast so that I know it is safe for him to eat."

He lets the children think about that for a moment.

"I don't want fame, or glory, or power." The Dragonlord makes a light face. "Though I don't have much choice there I suppose."

Little Teleri giggles.

"What do you think makes someone weak?" Merlin asks the children at large. There is a moment of silence before Breaca speaks up, the usually confident seven year old unsure.

"Someone who doesn't stand up for themselves?"

"So what if standing up for yourself will get someone else hurt or killed?"

None of the little ones seem to know what to say to that.

Merlin is sitting cross-legged on the rug now, the children clustered around him, Will, Amhar, and Anna at the front.

"Someone is weak when they only care about themselves, and what they can do to benefit themselves." Merlin says clearly, meeting the eyes of each child, from Thomas to little Gràinne, who isn't much more than a year old.

"Strength is caring about other people so much, that you want to do whatever you can for them. Even if it is something that people see as demeaning. If you do it because you want to, then it is not so, no matter what they think."

"Love." Teleri pipes up, her little six-year-old face lighting up with understanding. "Mam said that's what love is. Giving things up for someone else and being willing to work together and com-pro-mice." She sounds out the last word carefully, which makes her innocent mispronunciation all the more adorable.

There is the obligatory uncomfortable shifting from the boys at the mention of the dreaded "L-word."

"That's right Mermaid." Merlin smiles at her. "I don't do what I do because I have to, or because of destiny, or social obligation." Merlin finishes up, drawing his eldest in for a hug.

"I do it because he is my brother, I love him, and he's worth it."

Ygraine pretends not to see the tears in her son's eyes and pushes aside the thought that Will's question about Arthur and Merlin's first meeting has not yet been answered.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So this was originally supposed to be called "Family History" and be about the children learning how their parents met. (The Games)**

**And then several different factors got me thinking about Arthur and Merlin's relationship, and Merlin's status…and this happened.**

**I apologize if it seems a bit incoherent at times, I tried my best. Mostly, this is chapter is a rant against the common misconception that simply because Merlin doesn't get his name shouted from every rooftop that he is mistreated.**

**Anyway, the families as they stand. (Oh yeah, in the last chapter, Gwaine hadn't met his wife yet! They've only been married a couple of months in this one, she is a new addition to the family and yes, she is Sidhe.)**

**Arthur and Gwen**

**Same as before, just two years older**

**Merlin and Freya**

**Will - 7, Teleri - 6, Cenn - 4, Bran – almost 3, Ceri – between 6 and 8 months**

**Gaheris and Linnet (The elder of Gwaine's half-brothers and his wife)**

**Aidan - 5, Gràinne – 15 months or so, Finnean – weeks old**

**Gareth &amp; Lyonesse**

**Ruairidh 'Rory' - 5, Cailean – almost 3, Saraid – weeks old (Cailean is a boy, Saraid a girl)**

**Leon and Clarissa (Clarissa is Percival's sister. If you want to know the details behind my reasoning for that, PM me.)**

**Thomas – 9, Gerralt – 6, Caedmon – on the way (they just don't know it yet. Well, Merlin and Alice know. Probably Ragnelle too, but she isn't telling.)**

**Tristain and Isolde still have only Breaca, now 7.**

**And Elyan and Percival are still bachelors. They adore being uncles though. They spoil the kids rotten.  
**

**Yes, I am assuming that Gwaine will survive the Quest for the Fisher King.**

**Please feed Bob the review-eating dragon.**

**Then go over to Wryter501 and leave her reviews too!**


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